Nanostructuring and nanocharacterisation of organic semiconductor devices. This research project will utilise new approaches to pattern organic solar cells on the nanoscale to realise improved efficiencies and improved understanding of device operation. It will also develop soft x-ray techniques to probe the nanostructure of organic semiconductor films with increased chemical and interfacial specificity.
Using anisotropic thermal expansion in organic semiconductor thin films. This project aims to capitalise upon the recent discovery of negative thermal expansion in high-performance organic semiconductor films. Certain molecules’ chemical structures have a planar conjugated core and flexible sidechains. When highly anisotropic thermal expansion occurs, the sidechains take up most of the thermal expansion. When a negative thermal expansion occurs, the pi-pi stacking distance decreases upon anneali ....Using anisotropic thermal expansion in organic semiconductor thin films. This project aims to capitalise upon the recent discovery of negative thermal expansion in high-performance organic semiconductor films. Certain molecules’ chemical structures have a planar conjugated core and flexible sidechains. When highly anisotropic thermal expansion occurs, the sidechains take up most of the thermal expansion. When a negative thermal expansion occurs, the pi-pi stacking distance decreases upon annealing. This effect has been linked with higher charge mobilities, and a tighter molecular packing is locked in upon cooling. The potential applications of these high performance organic semiconductors includes chemical/biosensors, electronic paper, and radio frequency identification cards.Read moreRead less
Towards room-temperature multiferroics by doping and ionic liquid gating . This project aims to develop new multiferroic materials for high performance computing and data storage technologies. Semiconductor industry leaders have identified the development of these materials, operating a room temperature, as a key challenge in enabling future high speed, high performance logic and memory devices. The intended outcomes of this work are (i) the delivery of new multiferroic materials by magnetic do ....Towards room-temperature multiferroics by doping and ionic liquid gating . This project aims to develop new multiferroic materials for high performance computing and data storage technologies. Semiconductor industry leaders have identified the development of these materials, operating a room temperature, as a key challenge in enabling future high speed, high performance logic and memory devices. The intended outcomes of this work are (i) the delivery of new multiferroic materials by magnetic doping of a semiconductor, strained to a ferroelectric state and (ii) the demonstration of a new paradigm in materials design to realise such materials. The key benefit of this work is the enabling of next generation computing and memory devices exhibiting higher speeds, reduced sizes and lower power consumption. Read moreRead less